I had Omega Seamaster GMT for more than 15 years and until last year I had it, I wore it only on bracelet in summer and various leather straps in winter. In a spring when I changed it to bracelet, I felt that it is really heavy watch and I should do something about it. As I perspire in summer, leather is not that I would wear, so I went into totally uncharted territory - rubber straps.
The first one I bought was some cheapo silicone tropic - mounted and threw it away almost immediately, because of it couldn't hold a watch, it was like thin fabric and stick to the skin.
Then I turned to various Isofranes. Original was too expensive, cheap ones were made of silicone, so, no thanks. I found Borealis. Their isofrane is made of vulcanised rubber, so I thought it should be good. And it was good, soft to touch, didn't stick to skin, reasonable thickness for heavy watch and very nice orange colour.
I got strap right before summer holiday and even I brought also bracelet I never even had a thought to change it.
Then I sold Seamaster and while I was waiting for new Explorer to arrive, I bought Seiko turtle. It had new style silicone strap that was actually not that bad, but my hand was sweating under it. So I bought another Borealis and it suited watch very well.
When Explorer arrived, my first thought was - what strap I should put it on. Not because of there was something wrong with bracelet, but I got used to rubber and I liked it. Unfortunately Borealis was too thick for this watch, so I went hunting for thinner strap.
Enter cousinsuk tropic. Yes, it ir cheap, but it turned out it was the same crap quality as the first silicone I bought earlier. So, to the bin it went.
The I read a lot of praises to uncle seiko tropic, some reviewers noticed that this strap is quite stiff, but hey, how stiff can rubber can be? During my research I found basically the same strap sans uncle seiko markings in US quite a bit cheaper and bought. It turned out that it was indeed stiff. I didn't wanted to boil it or perform any magic tricks, so now it is strap box waiting for something. Maybe I will sell it.
When I lost all hopes to find good tropic strap, I bought Oris 65 on tropic. OMG, it was sooo goood! Perfect! I had to sell the watch because of other incoming, but I took note that there must be good rubber straps out there.
Fast forward 6 month, browsing numerous review and apparently there is one strap with good reviews and comparable quality to Oris that doesn't break the bank - Baltic Watch strap. Purchase did not went without glitches - despite banner announcing free shipping they added 10€ shipping cost and corrected banner (after I pointed out) that free shipping applies to orders above 100€. OK, I coughed up shipping cost and bought it. When strap arrived it appeared that short part of it was 70mm not 80mm, so it was bit on short side, OK for my 17cm wrist, but no way someone with 20cm wrist could strap it on. That was pointed out and description changed.
This spring wanted to by something colourful for the summer and found Barton Elite silicon strap. It was cheap with very good review so what the heck, if it will hold one summer I'll be OK with it. Because of covid it took 2 month to arrive and it is really wonderful strap, soft to touch, good thickness and it looks really good.
Of course I couldn't forget how good was Oris strap and I finally one for a reasonable price from Germany.
So I guess I am settled in rubber front now :)
Last edited by Normunds; 7th August 2020 at 15:09.
A journey indeed but that makes you feel you've earned the strap, lol.
Isofranes and true tmTropic straps are fantastic (I wonder if Oris commission tropic?) . Bulang and bonetto Cinturini also do good value rubber. I do like the borealis but they're a bit too thick.
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I opened this thread hoping it had been posted here by mistake, and should have been in the Boy's Room. So disappointing . . . ;-)
F.T.F.A.
I'm quite into rubber myself. I got an email today from Watchobsession about Isoswiss straps, which are rubber made to look like croc with nice stitching, could really suit my Breitling. For £75 though they would need be really good, anyone got one?
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I made a similar journey with my Seamaster. I like the original bracelet but it sits right about 20% of the time - the lack of adjustability just renders it useless. So it sits on a blue isofrane, which suits it well.
Glad you have found some that work for you.
I think Isofranes are great but wondered if you'd tried some of the Hirsch offerings, Pure / Heava etc. Might have spelt that wrong. They are pretty good as well.
Best,
Ben
My Seiko 007 was transformed by the Uncle Seiko tropic. I’m currently looking for a strap for my Unimatic, and think the Kaufmann Nautica will fit the bill. Bulang’s tropic was this with a rebadged buckle. It’s not that long, so will suit me, although probably not if the wrist is much over 7 inches
Dave
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There are slight differences between Tropic and Oris - long part have different number of holes, length etc.Originally Posted by stefmcd
Yep, but they feel very similar. Easily the 2 most comfortable rubbers I've tried.... Ahem.
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Love rubber straps.
The Hirsch Pure and Extreme are worth a look. The Extreme for recreational activities and the Pure for dressier duties.
+1 for the Uncle Seiko Tropic on an SKX. I also have their GL831 and it's fantastic.
Barton make a good silicon, only drawback for me was that it didn't taper.
Scurfa also do a quality rubber strap, but again without a taper. Both are relatively cheap, especially Barton.
I used to be a lot more into rubber straps, which was natural when my collection had a lot more divers than it does now.
Having moved to chronos and pilot's watches recently, I've been more focused on leather straps.
I love my Hirsch Hevea.
Thought might try these...
https://www.watchgecko.com/zennor-qu...p-by-zuludiver
Last edited by markbannister; 11th August 2020 at 20:38.
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